Amateur photog's online photo cache. All photos are original pics taken by author and her husband. This is not a place to see those awe inspiring Ansel Adams, these are ordinary subjects shot on a whim most of the time.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

There are many places to see prehistoric Indian rock art (petroglyphs) inside the park but we chose this trail because it's an easy trail (a friend needs an easy trail) and the entire trail is 1/2 mile round trip, plus this is where we can easily find petroglyphs.

Possible translations. I didn't really bother to read this marker, thankfully, hubby took a snap and here it is on my blog.

On our way to Mouse's Tank (the last photo), which is the end of this trail, we were distracted by the splendid rock formations and the red sand/earth to notice that along the way we would be able to see rock art. I was too busy snapping photos left and right that I did not see the petroglyphs.

It was only when we reached Mouse's tank that we bothered to ask someone where exactly we could see the rock art. He said they were scattered throughout the trail. He said to look carefully on the rocks. So on the walk back, we were on the look out solely for petroglyphs and we found them.

"The prehistoric users of Valley of Fire included the Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi pueblo farmers from nearby fertile Moapa valley. The span of approximate occupation has been dated from 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited the length of their stay. Fine examples of rock art left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park." (source)

The petroglyph canyon trail ends at Mouse's tank. This is Mouse's tank. It was named for a renegade Indian who used the area as a hideout in the 1890's. Mouse's Tank is a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months. It was raining when we got there so there was water in the tank.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

It's skywatch time of the week again. I'll put Valley of Fire series on hold for a couple of days to give way to sky watch today and photo hunt tomorrow.

This series of photos were shot between 5:45 pm to 6:00 pm on February 5, 2009 from my work parking lot. I normally don't do some shooting when I'm around work but I already clocked out and was about to drive out when I spotted this interesting sky.

It became more interesting when a plane came into view. The airport is not too far from where I work.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What do you make of this? A friend remarked this looked like an Indian carriage from the old days.

THE BEEHIVES. I read this is one of the most photograph formations in the park. Probably because it's next to the road.

Close up of beehives. I saturated this a bit.

This is not on any brochures or websites that I checked. It looked like a poodle to me.

Some of the rock formations require a bit of a hike, but with the rain and our companion is a little handicapped and could not walk for a long period of time, we decided not see all of them. I told my husband next time we go it would just be us so we can hike to where the other formations are located.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Yellow is not a difficult theme. It became difficult for me because I am currently running a series that featured RED rocks, and I did not want to pause it for photo hunt. Thankfully, after carefully reviewing all my photos again, I saw this one. Finally something yellow in red rock heaven.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Let's begin to enjoy the rocks. The rock formations here are made of sandstones, limestones, shales and conglomerates. I think I could only identify sandstone for their red color. This is a drive by and I admit to the poor quality of it, having zoomed as much as I could while on the move, you know :DThe name Valley of Fire was derived from the sandstone rocks that seem to be on fire when sun rays hit them.I was fascinated by the small openings/holes in these rocks. It felt to me like a very long time ago, these were lavas that bubbled and popped then hardened. Don't take my word for it, that's only my guess.

My husband suggested I tweak the photos a bit, you know put in blue sky in lieu of the gloomy gray sky that we had. I flat out refused, so some of the photos here are really gloomy.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Ready or not here comes another series. The photos were taken from February 16, 2009. I get different information online as to true distance of this park from Vegas. The distance I get from different site ranges from 50 miles to 60 miles. To be safe, it's about an hour's drive via Interstate 15.After paying the entrance fee of $6 per vehicle, off we go. It was raining in Vegas and it was no different here. At initial drive was not as scenic as the rest of the way, but I was excited as heck. I love state and national parks. I love rocks and rock formation. And I love scenic drives. Tune in for the remainder of this series.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

First of all this photo is very old, taken November 2003, San Diego Zoo.

These are not just pigs. These are Visayan Pigs. I bet you didn't know that! For my fellow Filipinos, here's the Wiki link here, go click it and learn about them.

This was the most pleasant surprise I got from a place filled with awesome creatures.

BTW, I have mixed feelings about posting random shots daily. I kinda miss running a series. I am going to spend more time choosing what photos I'd share from my February trip so that I can run that series sooner than I planned.

Friday, March 06, 2009

It appears like every one of the parking space is taken here. Oh what I would give to be a bird and fly over and find the right car to receive my "droppings".

Taken from Yosemite NP. I was at Glacier Point looking down on the valley below and this parking area grabbed my attention. I couldn't really fix the lighting. It was a bright August day with the sun blaring and it was hot.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

On February 17, 2009 while vacationing in Vegas, we took a day trip to Grand Canyon NP, which is a four-hour drive. We left Vegas at 6 am. And along the way the Arizona sky is like I remembered it to be---glorious and filled with puffy white clouds. We just learned upon arriving at Grand Canyon that the rain we experienced in Vegas the previous day came down as snow in this part of Arizona, and so the ground was covered with fresh powder ---such a wonderful sight. But this is skywatch and I'm just showing you, well, sky and clouds.

Here's one of those many, many photos I took on the front seat of a car. It's a four-hour drive and you can imagine how many of these I took :D.

Monday, March 02, 2009

You know what Karen Carpenter says about them. Here in my world, it's a Monday and its a rainy day. It's also a sick day for me. Been feeling worn out after my vacation two weeks ago and I have regained my colds back. Husband has got colds too. But poor guy had to go to work. But me on my sick day woke up late, turned on the pc and checked the last two episodes of Lost that I missed; then went on you tube to watch Tony Bourdain's Philippines show, which I missed because I was on vacation.

And of course I blogged and bloghopped.

Finally, I would like to thank Today's Blah for this award; I appreciate it very much.